DELAWARE
Delaware Cancer Registry Program
Data Quality Increases in Delaware
NATIONAL PROGRAM OF CANCER REGISTRIES
SUCCESS STORY
Public Health Problem: For two consecutive
years the Delaware Cancer Registry (DCR)
failed to attain certification from the North
American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR). In an effort to improve
their ability to produce complete, accurate
and timely data Delaware’s Division of Public Health (DDPH) set out to establish an
advisory committee that would be tasked
with advising the DCR in scientific and
logistical aspects of cancer data collection,
registry operations, policies and program
evaluation, and the best usage of cancer
registry data in cancer control initiatives to
further the cancer control goals of the State.
guidance and support to the DCR toward
the goal of improving cancer registry operations; including timeliness, completeness
and quality of cancer data collection, and
on the best use of cancer registry data for
cancer surveillance and control initiatives,
program planning, and cancer research.
Public Health Outcome: When the DCRAC
was established they worked with the DCR
to develop and implement a three year
execution plan. Since the initial implementation of the execution plan the DCR has
achieved and maintained the highest standard for complete, accurate and timely
data to calculate standard incidence statistics. This year the DCR received NAACCR
Use of Surveillance: The mission of the DelGold certification for 2010 diagnosis year
aware Cancer Registry is to help reduce the
data. This is the eighth consecutive year
cancer burden in Delaware, by maintainthat the DCR has attained the Gold award.
ing a cancer database of excellent quality
This seal of approval allows cancer inciand completeness, and making this infordence data collected by the Delaware
mation available to health professionals,
Cancer Registry to be used for cancer
researchers, health care organizations and
surveillance and control efforts in Delpublic health professionals for cancer preaware and nationally. In addition:
vention and control efforts. The Registry
t Delaware’s NAACCR completeness rate has
serves as a source of information to meaincreased from 92.2% for diagnosis year
sure quality of cancer care in Delaware.
2002 to 104.7% for diagnosis year 2010.
t
The
2008
diagnosis
year
data
was
Collaboration: In 2005 the DDPH with
audited
in
NPCR
in
2011,
and
received
the support of the Delaware Cancer Conan
overall
data
quality
score
of
sortium established the Delaware Cancer
95.7%,
the
highest
score
of
the
8
regRegistry Advisory Committee (DCRAC). The
istries
audited
in
that
cycle
DCRAC is comprised of oncologists, certified
t
The
DCR
successfully
reduced
the
tumor registrars, Department of Health and
rate
of
missing/unknown
chemotherSocial Services representatives, healthcare
apy
data
from
8.3%
for
diagnosis
year
planners and policy makers, and advo2006
to
4.5%
for
diagnosis
year
2010.
cacy organizations. The DCRAC provides